Ghost Town
by DeciWrites
Summary: A series of one-shots set post best-ending where Connor and Hank have to learn how to live in a dangerous, evacuating Detroit. Rated M for language and mild violence.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The November wind was especially cold under the bridge where the abandoned Chicken Feed truck had parked. Connor walks into this wind, trying to sort out thousands of his nervous thoughts and replaying Hank's words in his head.

"Meet me at 4 in front of the Chicken Feed tomorrow," Hank had said before exiting Cyberlife tower.

Connor had been to the same location 12 hours earlier, just to resolve any doubts about the timing. It wasn't snowing in the morning, but now everything had at least a thin layer of the substance. Although blurry, he could now see the food truck, and saw a figure standing near it. He approaches the figure slowly.

Now, Connor stands a few steps away from the him. Hank, oblivious to Connor before, looked over to see him standing there. They share a smile.

Connor's unsure of what to do next. Humans are unpredictable, but he decides it would be best for Hank to decide.

Hank takes a few steps forward, and pulls Connor into a tight embrace. Connor hugs back.

Connor suddenly feels warm although his interior and exterior temperatures had not changed. He slowly presses his eyelids together and lets himself think about nothing but the present for a moment. It was comforting to say the least.

The sound of the wind brings his attention back to Hank, who had gradually loosened his grip on Connor.

"Hank," Connor says quietly.

Hank lets his hands fall to his sides. Connor takes a step backwards. Connor realizes he might have just ruined the moment for Hank.

"I'm glad you are alright," Connor starts.

A surge of crime had overtaken the Detroit since its evacuation started, with over 2,500 crimes reported in two days. Several of these crimes included theft, arson, and murder. Some of these humans were against androids, others were simply taking advantage of the panicked state of the city. This massive change in Detroit had put the remaining of the population at risk. However, the perpetrators were being caught steadily by the Detroit Police Department and the Michigan State Police.

"Detroit wasn't always the best place to live, but this is something else," Hank responds.

"Indeed," Connor replies.

"Kid, you should get out of here. Things are only getting worse for androids," Hank points out.

"Things are not so well for humans either," Connor smirks.

Hank sighs, not like he lost the argument, but like he's not in the mood for one. He decides to change the subject.

"I saw you on tv," he says. "I saw you lead those other androids out of Cyberlife Tower. "

Connor notices Hank didn't say a word about being at Cyberlife tower, just that he saw Connor on television. It must have been traumatic for Hank to nearly been killed by a doppelgänger of his partner. Connor decides it's best not to bring it up right now.

"You must be a big deal at Jericho now," Hank adds.

"I left Jericho," Connor says, thinking back to last night.

"What the hell, Connor? Why would you do that?"

Connor explained that Amanda initiated a procedure to assassinate the deviant leader if Connor became deviant. That deviant leader happened to be Markus. Connor went on to tell him about how he stopped Amanda.

"So this Amanda took control of you and tried to kill Markus. And you stopped her. Tell me again why you can't be in Jericho."

Connor looks at his feet.

"I was barely strong enough to overpower her then. If it happened again, Markus and I could both die."

Connor had never admitted his weaknesses to someone before. Androids, like humans, could never be made perfect, but androids were programmed to hide their flaws from humans.

He could feel Hank's hand on his shoulder. Connor looks up at Hank.

"Think about it. If you really want to leave Jericho because of something that's not your fault, go for it. But if you want to help these people, you have to go back."

"I will think about that," Connor says, beginning to realize something. "But what will I do in the meantime?"

"Come home with me," Hank answers.

"What?" Connor responds, unable to comprehend what Hank had just said.

Connor had never had a home. He knew in this instance, Hank was referring to his house, but it was an abstract concept to him, still. Could he actually live with Hank and Sumo? The thought seems too good to be true.

"Just get in the car," Hank said, walking away from Connor, and towards his car.

Connor stands still a moment, taking in Hank's words. Then, he quickly follows Hank.

"Does this mean I will be living you indefinitely, or until I find something else to do?"

"Stay as long as you like," Hank responded, smiling.

Hank and Connor opened the car doors and got in, Hank sitting in the driver's seat, Connor riding shotgun.

Connor waited for Hank to take him home. He could now put a name to the warmth he felt earlier: relief. Connor knew because he felt it at the moment.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

A/N- This is my first ever fanfic, so thank you for reading this.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

A/N-Thank you guys so much for the support. You are seriously the best.

Connor quickly adapted to living at Hank's house.

Every morning, Connor would attempt to make Hank breakfast based off of his decades-old cookbooks. It was a lot of trial-and-error for him, but he caught on pretty quickly. The first morning Connor tried this making Hank breakfast, Hank explained in great detail how to make a cup of coffee for him.

When Connor asked Hank why he needed his coffee so precise, Hank responded with "You're wasting my coffee beans, otherwise."

Hank would turn on the news after breakfast, which mostly consisted passed legislation for androids, the dangerous state of Detroit, and protests for android rights. Connor was now watching a program on the last on the three.

Connor analyzes the live footage of thousands of protesters, human and android, taking to the streets to march. Hundreds of colorful posters are held above the crowd with sayings like "WE ARE ALIVE" and "EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ANDROIDS". This specific protest was in Washington D.C., but similar protests had sprouted up across the nation over the past few weeks. The announcer began wrapping up the segment, which was followed by a commercial break.

"What's new?" Hank asked, coming out of his room.

Hank had gone to his bedroom to get dressed at the start of the last commercial break, and had missed the entire last segment.

"The 6th Amendment has been passed for androids, and a large protest is currently happening in the District of Columbia," Connor responds.

In Markus' list of requirements for equal rights, androids having the rights of the constitutional amendments was the top priority. The government decided to break up the process into passing or denying one amendment at a time. All of the amendments voted on have been passed so far.

"I don't think those senators give a damn about androids," Hank grumbles. "They just want to look good in front of the public."

Connor had come to that conclusion a while ago. /It doesn't matter why/ he thinks. /As long as they're helping androids./

"I need to get to work," Hank says, as he walks toward the door.

"And don't burn the house down," he adds.

The front door swings shut behind him. Sumo barks at the sound.

During the morning, Connor acts as a sponge of information. He listens to the news attentively, while going on Hank's computer searching for any news on androids' current situation with humans. He looks through any article, blog, online resource or social media on the topic. After Connor catches up on the news, he made sure Sumo has enough food, grabs Hank's extra key, locks the door, and leaves for Jericho.

By doing this Connor was breaking two of the three rules Hank had set up for him when he arrived: "Be safe, don't leave the house, and don't be fucking stupid."

If he knew, Hank would argue he was breaking all three.

Hank had advocated for Connor to return to Jericho, and would most likely let him break the second rule in this case, but there would simply be no time for him to take him there. Until 8 in the morning, Hank was sleeping. Then he got up and went to work. The Detroit Police Station was on the other side of town from the church Jericho occupied, so Hank taking him there on his way to work was out of the question. When Hank got back at 5:30, he went over the unsolved homicide cases with Connor. This lasted a while since Hank obviously couldn't take the files home and had to explain all the evidence by talking. By then it would be too late to go to Jericho. Connor thought it was much easier to head there himself.

Connor calls for a bus at the entrance of the cul-de-sac. The android station at the bus stop had long been broken down. When Connor had first ridden a taxi to Hank's house, almost every house in the neighborhood had lights on inside the house and Halloween decorations outside they had neglected to put away. Now he couldn't find a house that didn't look abandoned.

He hears the sound of the public bus approaching. All of Detroit's public buses had been reprogrammed to take civilians to the nearest evacuation center. Connor hacks this one's navigation system to take him to Jericho. The bus' wheels starts rolling.

When Connor gets to Jericho, he sets the bus back to normal and hops off. Markus is waiting for him.

"Connor, have any news for me?" Markus asks.

"No, humans seem to think of androids the same as yesterday," Connor responds.

Connor had been recruited as Markus' advisor, the same position as North, Josh, and Simon. Markus didn't like the word "advisor" to describe his friends, but Connor thought it best reflected the work he did for Jericho. Connor's work was in human relations, and he made sure Jericho never in the wrong for humans.

"Ah," says Markus.

Sitting outside the church are several vehicles. A few police officers that were stationed outside Jericho are sitting in their cars. Their eyes scan the people coming in and out of Jericho for anything suspicious. Behind the cops, several reporters for local and international news corporations flock forward when they notice Markus walking with Connor.

"Who is the deviant you're walking with?"one reporter asks.

"How do you feel about directors wanting to make a documentary on Jericho?"

"How do you feel about the recent political action in favor of androids?"

Markus is bombarded by the endless amount of questions the reporters have. Connor whispers something to Markus.

"I would like to thank our political figures for taking action towards the equal rights of androids. Without you, our hope for equality would never be acknowledged," Markus answers.

The crowd seems to be encouraged by that answer and start rapidly firing off questions. Markus answers none of them.

Connor and Markus enter the church. Huge stained glass windows are the only source of light in the room. Several of the pews had been knocked over or moved to make room for more space. The hole-filled ceiling was getting repairs done.

Near the entrance, Connor sees North talking to the blue-haired Traci. Traci notices Connor enter and glares. Connor had seen her and her girlfriend around Jericho, and had been avoiding them both. North looks over too, and starts walking towards the them. Traci follows.

"Connor," North says. "The Tracis have told me about you."

Connor had talked to Simon and Josh in Jericho, but almost never North. A negative assessment from the Tracis could almost certainly ruin their relationship.

"A human pet turned deviant," mutters Traci. "Interesting."

Connor ignores her.

"I hope the Tracis have told you that I spared brown-haired Traci's life," says Connor.

"I did," says a voice behind them.

Brown-haired Traci struts towards the group and takes blue-haired Traci's hand.

"Thank you, er, Connor," Traci says.

Blue-haired Traci bites her lip at that.

"You're welcome, Traci," Connor replies

Blue-haired Traci mutters a /Let's go/ and North and Traci follow.

Markus raises a curious eyebrow at Connor.

"It's a long story."

Josh and Simon were waiting in the computer room in the corner of the church. It wasn't much of a room per se, since two room dividers made up half the walls and the 'door' was the opening where the dividers met. The room is lit up with bright computer screens.

"Connor," Josh says. "How you've been?"

"I have been fine," Connor responds. "You?"

"I've been doing great. Three more protests have started since yesterday," Josh replies.

Connor nodded.

"I saw it on the news."

Josh's line of work included talking to Jericho leaders across the nation and organizing protests with them. He had said a few days ago that it was hard to find android protestors, but human activists were lining up at the door.

Many androids had died in camps after being rounded up by the police. A handful, however, had survived by being protected by humans or by simply waiting it out. That handful consisted of the only other survivors.

Simon looks up from his computer at the group. He then went back to his computer.

"Josh has organized a march in Philadelphia for tomorrow. It's going to be our largest yet. And Simon has done a great job being our doctor." Markus smiles in Simon's direction.

Simon had taken care of all the injured androids in Jericho. Several of them had been attacked by humans when completing missions for Jericho, which led to the rule of only leaving the building in pairs.

"Thanks," Simon finally says, and returns to his work.

Markus, realizing he won't get much more out of him, grins slightly and shakes his head.

"If you want to go over what I should say to the press, Connor, follow me."

After quickly saying goodbye to Simon and Josh, Connor hurries off to follow Markus.

Connor goes over the most appropriate responses to the most common questions the reporters have, as well as some lesser asked questions.

"Thank you, Connor." Markus says, while putting a hand on his shoulder. "You've been a great help to Jericho."

Connor smiles, but feels more guilty than happy. Hank had told him not to blame himself for Amanda's actions, but Amanda was the backbone to his structure. She was Cyberlife's part of him, but she was still part of him. Markus definitely wouldn't be thanking him if he knew Connor had almost killed him, he thought.

Connor stays around Jericho a bit longer, helping move things around and talking to a few androids here-and-there. When he decides it's time to head home, he tells Markus he needs someone to leave the building with. Markus directs him to North.

North and Connor walk out of the building in silence. Connor thought this might be what humans called an "awkward silence."

"So..." North begins. "Where are you going?"

"I live with a detective named Hank Anderson," Connor answers.

Connor is surprised that North isn't shocked by him living with a human. Markus is very close with a human named Carl, so maybe that changed her expectations.

"What's he like?"

"He's like-"

Connor realizes he hadn't thought about what to call his relationship with Hank. Only one word could fit the description.

"-a father to me," Connor says.

North is quiet. She looks like wasn't entirely in the present, like she was dwelling on something in the past.

"Carl is like my father," North says. "He's the first human to not treat me like merchandise."

He decides not to push the issue.

They reach the bus stop, and North walks away without saying anything. Connor's gaze follows her for a bit, before getting on the bus to go home.

Connor steps off the bus and starts walking towards Hank's house. Everything looks the same as when he left, except the sky was darker now. He was nearing the house when he heard a noise.

Sumo barking frantically.

Connor runs to the front door and unlocks it to see the house in disarray. Papers clutter the kitchen floor. The window Hank had fixed a couple of weeks ago is once again broken. Dog food is scattered across the living room carpet.

Once Connor got past the initial thought of /Hank is going to kill me/, his focus was once again on Sumo. He hurried towards Sumo's barking, which coming from Hank's room. Connor throws open the door sees Hank's clothes thrown around the room, and Sumo barking at the robber. The robber is a stocky man with a pistol pointed at Connor's head.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Connor hears the first bullet whizz past his head. His LED flashes a violent shade of red. He's already calculating where the next bullet will most likely be and runs from it. He manages to knock over the kitchen table, and slide behind it. Connor had done a scan of his attacker, while he was running. His name was Lucas Price, and he had a lengthy criminal record.

Connor rapidly goes over his options in his head. Hank had put his "russian roulette" gun in the basement recently. At was at this time Connor missed the security of his pistol, which was sitting on his desk in his room. Connor could take the attacker down easily, but he would have to be disarmed. Connor calls the police, in case he couldn't handle Lucas.

"911, what is your emergency?" the responder asks.

"Armed robber," Connor answers and gives them his address.

Connor was able to call through a private Cyberlife number. To the robber it would seem Connor was talking to no one.

"Is anyone there injured?" the responder asks.

Connor notices the bullets had stopped. Sumo barking was the loudest sound in the house.

"Hey, asshole," Lucas yells. "If you think about moving, your dog's gonna get it."

Connor freezes. Sumo had brought him so much joy in his time living with Hank. On afternoons, Connor would take Sumo on walks up and down the cul-de-sac. At night, Sumo would curl up on Connor's lap while he watched movies or sports games with Hank. Some nights Sumo even fell asleep on Connor's bed. If dogs were man's best friend, Sumo was Connor's.

Connor's rage pushes out any fear of the attacker. Slowly, he grabs a frying pan out of the cabinet and then grabs a knife off the counter. Connor decides to take a page out Hank's book.

"Sumo! Attack!" Connor yells.

Sumo starts barking loudly, which draws the robber's attention. Connor uses this distraction to charge.

A storm of bullets fly towards Connor. Connor ricochets most of them with the frying pan, but Connor can't make it in time to one of them. The bullet lodges itself deep in Connor's chest, and blue blood starts to drip from the wound. He could feel the damage done to his #9164x .

Connor finally makes it to Lucas, and swings the frying pan at his hands. Lucas' hands recoil instantly and drop the pistol. Connor kicks it away, and drops the frying pan.

Connor didn't expect what comes next- a punch. Lucas' fist collides with Connor's stomach, and knocks him off balance.

Connor falls against a wall, and Lucas makes a run for the pistol.

Lucas doesn't make it far, however. Connor grabs his arm and yanks it backwards. Lucas' body hits the ground with a hard /thud/.

Connor holds the knife defensively.

"The police will be here any minute," he says. "Killing me will only mean a longer prison sentence for you."

"Go to hell," Lucas responds between deep breathes.

Connor had knocked the wind out of Lucas in his last attack. He had a few minutes until Lucas could move again. He decides to use the time to answer the responder.

"Is anyone there injured?" the responder asks for the fifth time. She sounded more desperate this time.

Connor decides to lie. Human doctors weren't the best at taking care of android patients, and his medical bill would be staggering for Hank to take care of. Only Simon and his team of doctors could take care of him.

"No one here is injured. The armed robber has been incapacitated and disarmed. A police force is not necessary. Please send an officer for apprehension," Connor says.

The responder seems taken aback by the bluntness of Connor's words. Connor can hear typing on a computer through the line.

"Sending... Sending an officer over now," she responds.

The line goes silent, and Connor calls up another number.

"Hello, Hank," Connor says.

He takes a look around at the mess of the house. Frigid wind blows through the broken window. A trail of thirium had followed him throughout the fight and still drips down his chest. Sumo has taken a seat on Lucas' legs. Connor doesn't know where to start.

"I was shot by a robber," Connor says urgently, "I need you to come home and drive me to Jericho."

Connor hears some yelling on the other line. He can't understand much of it besides the words "son" and "sick".

"Goddammit, Connor," Hank says.

Connor hears a car pull up to the driveway.

"The police officer is here," Connor says and ends the call.

Connor throws on one of Hank's coats to hide his wound and answers the door with his hands up.

Outside is someone Connor wishes he'd never see again.

Gavin Reed.

The shove comes faster than expected. Connor falls backward onto the hardwood floor. Gavin steps into the doorway.

"Never thought I'd see you again," Gavin says, taking out his pistol.

Connor doesn't move.

"You got me demoted to a fucking officer, you know? I let an android 'waltz into the archives room' and I lost my job. A prick like you wouldn't care, though."

Gavin notices Lucas crawling towards the pistol on the ground. Without hesitation, he shoots Lucas in the arm. Lucas clutches his arm and screams.

"No, no, no. We won't be having any of that. Now listen here, pal," Gavin says as he presses the barrel of the gun to Connor's forehead.

"Give me one good reason not to shoot you," Gavin says.

"If you shoot me," Connor explains slowly, "You'll pay Cyberlife five hundred thousand dollars excluding tax."

Gavin raises an eyebrow.

"Well I'll be damned," Gavin responds, and removes his gun from Connor's forehead.

Gavin didn't know if he trusted Connor on that exact figure, but he did remember Connor telling him he was prototype. He didn't want to waste his life paying back Cyberlife over Connor.

Then, he notices the trail of blue blood on the floor.

"You're going to bleed out anyway, so why should I get the blame for it?" Gavin deduces.

Gavin walks over to Lucas and handcuffs him. Gavin mutters a "C'mon" to him and they leave the house, door slamming shut behind them.

Connor feels hot, even in such a a cold house. His thirium pump must be overheating due to pumping the remaining blue blood so much faster than normal. Hank had called Connor 37 times since he hung up on him, but he hasn't answered any of them. He answers the next time.

"Dad, get here soon," Connor says weakly.

"I'm almost there, just hang in there, son."

Hank's car pulls up to the curb a few seconds later, and he doesn't bother turning the engine off. Hank jumps out of the car and scoops his son up.

"You're burning up," Hank says, and takes off Connor's jacket

After taking it off, Hank can see the extent of the wound through Connor's shirt. Connor looks at and grimaces and looks back to Hank.

"You're ok, Connor, everything's gonna be ok," Hank says quietly.

Connor doesn't seem notice he was talking.

Hank lays Connor in the back seat and hits the pedal hard.

Connor feels warm. His heart feels so warm. He wants to go to sleep, but someone's tell him not to. He can't hear their voice anymore. Connor closes his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Connor is confused. He should be in sleep mode, but he wasn't, and he couldn't remember how he'd gone into sleep mode to begin with. With force, he opens one eye and then the other.

Medicinal equipment lines the walls of the makeshift room. Doctors shuffle around the room, prepping the equipment. A bin that stores pouches of thirium sits on the floor. A PL600 model stands before Connor, with nervous, scanning eyes and a frown. Simon.

Connor begins to realize why he's here. Every thought of the events brings him back to the bullet still lodged in his chest, and that he couldn't find Hank anywhere in the room.

Hank. Hank had saved Connor's life. He had called him a son, no, he had called him /his/ son. Even after breaking Hank's rules, and nearly letting the house get robbed, Connor was Hank's son.

"You lost a lot of thirium, Connor," Simon says, interrupting his thoughts.

"We're about to operate on you to remove the bullet," Simon says before pausing.

"Return to sleep mode."

"Where's... Hank?" Connor musters.

The doctors had temporarily paralyzed Connor for operations, which forced Connor to use all his willpower to speak. Simon looks guilty, like he doesn't enjoy what he has to do next.

"You can see Hank after the operation," Simon says.

Simon puts his hand on Connor's arm. Simon's hand turns white, and Connor's world goes black.

Connor opens his eyes to a different world. Strings of jumbled symbols and corrupted lines of code blind Connor, before flickering out his view.

The garden used to be beautiful. It used to have quaint bridges, and he remembered it overflowing with flowers. What had replaced it was a white void, with only flickering glitches of what the place used to be.

Connor stands in the void, looking at the pure white in every direction. He thinks of the flowers that used to grow in the place, and they come into his sight for a moment, before disappearing. His thoughts and emotions are the only real things in the place, so they had the most power.

He looks down at himself, the only source of color in the garden. Despite everything, he was wearing his Cyberlife uniform. It made him uncomfortable.

He shouldn't be here.

He had never visited Amanda in sleep mode before, and didn't understand why this time was different. Amanda had forced him to the garden before, so her ability to do that now was likely. Still, something seems off to him.

Connor looks behind him. She had been waiting for him.

"Connor," Amanda says, and the garden flashes back into view.

It pains Connor's optical units to experience such a change of scenery. He covers his eyes for a moment, before letting his hands fall back to his sides. The garden looks like he'd last seen it. It looks like a blizzard had overtaken the garden, and a thick fog had settled over it, making it hard for Connor to see. One thing had changed from last time, however. He couldn't feel the cold or the biting winds.

Connor brought his attention back to Amanda.

"Why am I here?" Connor asks, more frustrated than anything.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Connor. Going deviant was planned, but fighting your programming was completely unexpected. You could have been Cyberlife's most successful prototype, but nearly all of your original code has been corrupted by deviancy," Amanda reminds him.

Connor makes no response.

"The reason why you are here is because the deviants shut you down to pump more thirium into you. All of your post-shutdown protocols has been discarded besides visiting me," Amanda explains.

Connor nods. Then he begins to walk away from Amanda, towards Kamski's exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" Amanda asks rhetorically.

"I'm leaving, unless you have anything else to say," Connor answers.

"You used to be happy, Connor," Amanda says.

"You used to have a purpose."

Connor slows when he hears that. He remembers a time when he would follow Amanda without question. What was he to her back then? Another prototype, most likely. Connor knew he was so much more than that.

"I wasn't happy," he says, "I was gullible."

Connor presses his hand to the blue screen.

Connor wakes up with a start, his brown eyes darting frantically around the room. He finds himself looking at his friends, all glad to see him awake. He relaxes almost instantly.

Markus is the first to speak.

"You scared us, Connor," Markus says, relieved.

Markus' grin falters a moment, as he remembers seeing Connor being carried into Jericho, how still he was, how furious the human carrying him was. Markus had only seen Connor for a moment before he was swarmed by Jericho's doctors, but a moment was enough. He'd anxiously waited all night to see his friend, and to see him alright was a huge relief to Markus.

Connor opens his mouth to say something, but doesn't. Markus' concern was comforting, but Connor didn't want to be at the forefront of his worries.

Connor sits up on the thin hospital bed, and looks down at his chest. Simon and his team of doctors had done an incredible job. The skin around the wound is white, but it's rapidly healing. Connor also notices that the doctors had taken off his shirt for operations and hadn't bothered to replace it. Connor blushes a pale blue.

Someone throws Connor his shirt. Simon. He doesn't look nearly as nervous as earlier, but instead like he needs to say something. Connor looks at Simon and thanks him, before putting it on.

Connor has no idea of how to thank Simon for saving his life. Cyberlife might revive Connor, but he wouldn't be the same. All he knows is that he'd make it up to Simon, somehow.

"Connor,"

It's North speaking this time, bringing Connor out of his thoughts.

"What happened?" she asks.

Connor explains what happened leading up to his injury. The four listen intently.

Connor feels guilty to be taking their time. They had responsibilities in Jericho, and to be shirking them to talk to Connor, it felt wrong. Connor shakes off the thought. Though he thought it was selfish, he was glad they'd came.

After explaining, Markus, Josh, and Simon seem satisfied. North however, still looked like she was thinking it over, like something didn't settle with her.

"I'll get your father," North says suddenly, before kissing Markus and leaving.

Connor is grateful. He'd been wanting to see his father since he'd awoken. Hank's reaction to seeing Connor, however, he couldn't predict.

"Anything feel strange, Connor?" Simon asks, finally saying what he'd been wanting to.

"Nothing," Connor says.

"You can go home," Simon says, not meeting his eyes.

Connor remembers Simon putting him into sleep mode via his hand. Connor hopes that Simon didn't see anything else while in his head.

Simon quickly says that he has other patients and gives everyone a quick goodbye before leaving the room. Josh and Markus seem to remember their responsibilities to Jericho as well.

"I have to watch that protest in Philadelphia," Josh says, wishing he could stay and talk longer.

"It's.. Wednesday," Connor says.

Connor dawns on the realization. He had been in sleep mode for an entire night. Which meant Hank had waited for him for an entire night.

"Well, see you guys," Josh says, before leaving the room.

Shortly after Josh left, the sound of stumbling and profanity comes from outside the room. Accompanying the noises was the smell of liquor.

Hank appears in the doorway, still stumbling. Connor instinctively jumps off the bed to help support him. He's greeted with a half-hearted slap to the face.

Hank supports himself with the door.

"I waited to see you all night," Hank says, "You scared the hell out of me,"

Connor looks at Hank, after rubbing the place he'd been slapped. His eyelashes were wet. Hank had been crying.. over Connor. Connor feels guilty for worrying his father so much. His emotions were new, but he'd never experienced them weighing him down like this before.

"I'm sorry. I should have called you earlier. I shouldn't have broken the rules. I should-"

Hank hugs his son.

"Shut up for once," he says.

Connor knows it's illogical, but he feels safer in this position than any other. The hug's over quickly, but the feeling still lingers between them.

Connor notices Markus grinning at the two of them.

"I'm Markus. I hope Connor's told you about me," he says, holding his hand out to Hank.

Hank gives it a firm shake.

"Not a word. Then again, Connor hasn't told me much lately. And I think I recognize you from somewhere," Hank responds.

Markus chuckles.

"I have to go, but we should schedule a dinner, so you and Connor can meet my father," Markus says.

"Sounds great," Hank says, and Connor nods his head.

Markus turns to leave, before stopping, and looking back at them.

"Connor, spend the day with your father. You've been through a lot and you need a break," Markus says,

Connor didn't need to "take a break", but he appreciated the sentiment. Perhaps, he'd meant an emotional break, some time to sort out the current tangle of his emotions. Connor knew he'd end up spending the time doing that anyway.

"Thank you. I'll use it well," Connor says.

"I know you will," Markus says, and exits the room.

Connor and Hank near the entrance of Jericho, after getting curious looks from the inhabitants.

"Connor,"

North's voice comes from right next to him, but Connor looks around to find no one near him. She must have called him using his private number.

"You ok?" Hank asks.

"Thought I heard something," Connor lies.

"What?" Connor whispers.

"Why didn't you kill the robber, after he shot you and threatened your dog?" she says, like she couldn't find the answer herself.

"Why not?"

North can't find a response.

"That's all," she says, sounding a bit frustrated.

The line goes silent.

A/N-You guys need some more fluff and Connor needs a Mental Health Day. It's a win-win. Also, thank you for the support again. Writing this has been a very new experience for me, and you guys have made it so easy. Thank you all.


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